Author: Das Amar
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Published: 2008-02
Total Pages: 104
ISBN-13: 9781425780814
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Book Description The Sacred Way of the Sikhs began with Guru Naanak in the early 16th century. Guru Naanak traveled with his students through what is now northern India, Pakistan, Tibet and parts of Asia. His message was always the same. He recognized the Divine inside of Creation, inside of every person and every creature. And in that recognition, he embraced all people as his brothers and sisters. He taught Sacred Sound as a way to awaken people to experience their inner Divinity and light. Over the next 200 years, Guru Naanak would be succeeded by nine other Gurus, or Teachers, who channeled the Light of Nanak's spirit and teachings. Finally, at the end of the reign of the 10th Sikh Teacher, Guru Gobind Singh, the Light of Naanak infused itself into the Sacred Songs of the Sikhs. And these Sacred Songs, themselves, were crowned as the Teacher of the Sikhs for all time. Wisdom comes to us as a gift. We can only find it when humility brings us to the state of surrender. When we surrender, we become zero. And that zeroing out creates a vacuum for something new. As wisdom pours into the space created by the vacuum of surrender, we grow. We learn. And that learning transforms us, bringing the hope and the promise of a new and better day. The Anand Sahib was birthed through such a profound moment of surrender. There are many different versions of the story. Let me do the best I can to retell it here. One day a very old yogi came to visit the third teacher of the Sikhs, Guru Amar Das. Guru Amar Das had succeeded the second Sikh teacher, Guru Angad, in the year 1552. He lived in what is now northwestern India. By the time Guru Amar Das became the Guru, he was already an old man. He had lived life and he carried the unique perspective that comes with age into his reign as the Guru. The yogi was also very old. He had spent years and years in isolation and deep meditation. The yogi had developed mastery over the elements, had acquired tremendous mystical powers but still there was something missing. So the old yogi decided to visit the old Sikh Guru. In audience with Guru Amar Das, and after paying the proper respects, the yogi described his frustration with his practice and then asked very simply, "Oh kind and wise Teacher, will you teach me how to just live life?" Guru Amar Das nodded. "Leave this body," he told the yogi. "Be reborn in my family. Then come to me and I will teach you how to live." The yogi took his leave of the Guru. And in obedience to the Guru's directive, sat down in meditation and left his body. In due time, the wife of Guru Amar Das's son Mohri gave birth to a grandson. When Guru Amar Das heard of the birth of the child, he knew that the yogi's soul had been reborn. Immediately he called for the child to be brought to him even though the traditional time of sequestering the infant with the mother had not yet passed. As soon as his grandson was brought before him, Guru Amar Das sang the Anand Sahib the Song of Bliss. When he was done singing, the old Guru named the child Anand. What, then, is the Anand Sahib? It is a sacred teaching song in 40 verses, or steps, that give the essential lesson for the soul for the first 40 years of life. The first verse, or step, relates to the first year of life. The second verse, or step, to the second year. And so on until the age of 40. If each lesson is learned properly, and if grace is with the situation, then by the age of 40 one will have realized the experience of Jiwan Mukht, of being liberated while alive. Yet even if the time of liberation has not yet come, the 40 steps of the Anand Sahib help to develop what we may call "the perfected human psyche." This is a psyche that has been thoroughly trained to support the reality of the soul in the midst of social and daily life. It is a mind whose senses can navigate the complexity of the human experience without loosing touch with the Divine Spirit infused and prevailing through all. The
